I've been telling P that we should put an amendment in to council - we should be building an ark, not a house! We're getting close to 4o days and nights of rain and it still hasn't quite finished yet. Come to think of it, we've got the makings of a fine menagerie too - what with the cat, chickens, rainbow lorikeets, numerous frogs and other creepy crawlies. Indeed the chickens are showing signs of travel worthiness - the other day I was sitting in the car waiting for my two boys when one of the chickens (young bold one) hopped right into the car and onto the steering wheel! Mercifully it didn't take the opportunity to make a deposit in my lap, but I put the umbrella over my legs just in case! P was not amused.

Every now and then I visit Jeanette Winterson's website - she picks out a poem every month. There was one about rain which I liked called 'Taxing the rain' by Penelope Shuttle. Although the idea is quite ludicrous, some form of compensation for the weather would be appreciated at the moment.

...a few days later...

Well - what do you know - the builders have made an appearance! We won't have to bother the town planning folks after all. The clouds have stayed away for long enough to allow them to take up works again. Yesterday I came home and saw they had managed the great achievement of making smaller piles out of the larger pile of bricks waiting on the slab. Actually, I must admit they'd also flattened out the ground in preparation for laying the retaining wall at the front of the house. And they turned up again during breakfast today. Be still my beating heart!

We've been looking at tiles and pavers for the inside and outside of the house but still haven't come to any decisions. We want at least part of the interior floor to be a dark or medium grey colour - why, do you ask? Well you see our floor is going to act like a heat saver in winter. The sun will shine directly on it during the day and at night the heat from the floor will help to heat the house up. And the darker the tiles, the more heat will be absorbed.

When I started sprouting this the other day at one of the tile showrooms the sales guy just gave me a smirk and said - 'Where did you hear that...?!' He looked incredulous and ever so slightly patronising. I wasted no time putting him in his place and declared our house was going to be an eco house using passive solar design so... He shut up then - probably dismissing me to himself as 'one of those crazy greenies...' My latest idea is to make 2 large areas of dark grey, surrounded by a lighter colour. I'd like to keep it feeling light and airy if possible.